A Manual Of Mammalogy With Keys To Families Of The World

Refined in detail through three editions, the manuals outstanding features include: an explanation of keys and how to use them; the inclusion of keys designed to identify by order or family extant mammals of the world; special sections containing comments and suggestions on identification; information on working with map coordinates and global positioning receivers; coverage of the use of computer programs to get estimates of home-range size and characteristics; and ideas for locating reliable, authoritative literature on mammals. A section on techniques for studying mammals in the field and in the laboratory rounds out this student-friendly learning tool. Beautifully wrought illustrations and diagrams accurately portray visual details of mammal groups or characteristics that are unavailable to study in person. Moreover, well-designed laboratory exercises provide opportunities to apply knowledge and master understanding.

“An outstanding contribution. . . . The glossary and illustrations are excellent and most helpful. This book will be the standard for years to come.” —Robert M. Timm, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, and past president, American Society of Mammalogists Douglas A. Kelt and James L. Patton provide a long-overdue update to Timothy E. Lawlor’s Handbook to the Orders and Families of Living Mammals in their new, wholly original work, A Manual of the Mammalia. Complemented by global range maps, high-resolution photographs of skulls and mandibles by Bill Stone, and the outstanding artwork of Fiona Reid, this book provides an overview of biological attributes of each higher taxon while highlighting key and diagnostic characters needed to identify skulls and skins of all recent mammalian orders and most families. Kelt and Patton also place taxa in their currently understood supra-familial clades, and discuss current challenges in higher mammal taxonomy. Including a comprehensive review of mammalian anatomy to provide a foundation for understanding all characters employed throughout, A Manual of the Mammalia is both a handbook for students learning to identify higher mammal taxa and a uniquely comprehensive reference for mammalogists from across the globe. “[A] comprehensive, lavishly illustrated reference book.” —Nature “A success overall. Recommended.” —Choice “There is hardly a better manual for comparing old and new taxonomic and phylogenetic constructs for the Class Mammalia.” —Michael A. Mares, director, curator, and professor emeritus, Sam Noble Museum, University of Oklahoma, and past president, American Society of Mammalogists “Kelt and Patton take mammalogy from a 1990’s flip phone to iPhone 13. A Manual of the Mammalia is entirely on a higher plane.” —Journal of Mammalogy

Complete with glossary and bibliography, this book is a must have for every serious student of mammology. Illustrated with photographs and line drawings, this volume uses two or more pairs of contrasting characters in the keys.

The fifth edition includes• for the first time, stunning color photographs throughout• chapters rearranged and grouped to best reflect phylogenetic relationships, with updated numbers of genera and species for each family• updated mammalian structural and functional adaptations, as well as ordinal fossil histories• recent advances in mammalian phylogeny, biogeography, social behavior, and ecology, with 12 new or revised cladograms reflecting current research findings• new breakout boxes on novel or unique aspects of mammals; new work on female post-copulatory mate choice, cooperative behaviors, group defense, and the role of the vomeronasal system• discussions of the current implications of climate change and other anthropogenic factors for mammalsMaintaining the accessible, readable style for which Feldhamer and his coauthors are well known, this new edition of Mammalogy is the authoritative textbook on this amazingly diverse class of vertebrates.

All the information researchers, students, and practitioners need to conducted innovative, state-of-the-art research on small mammals. Rodents and insectivores constitute the vast majority of mammals on our planet, yet we often overlook the importance of this group. As seed dispersers, prey species, and disease regulators, these animals are critical to the functioning of our ecological systems. While considerable material exists that describes these species, there has been no dedicated guide explaining how to effectively research them—until now. Methods for Ecological Research on Terrestrial Small Mammals is a one-stop resource compiling all the information readers need to conduct state-of-the-art research on small terrestrial mammals across the globe. The authors cover the full spectrum of issues, from capture, handling, identification, reproduction, demography, and taxonomy to behavior, diet, evolution, diseases, movements, morphometrics, and more. They also: • highlight the latest techniques while carefully explaining the tried-and-tested methods needed to conduct rigorous scientific inquiries; • provide step-by-step examples and case studies, demonstrating how the methods discussed can be used in actual research projects; • compare and contrast methodologies, analytical techniques, and software packages, helping researchers determine which pathways and tools will yield the best results for their studies. A comprehensive and invaluable resource, Methods for Ecological Research on Terrestrial Small Mammals is a must-have for any ecologist working on small mammals.

From the tiny shrew to the black bear, Pennsylvania's hills and valleys are teeming with sixty-three species of wild mammals. Many of these animals are rarely seen except when pursued by an interested biologist, mammologist, or nature photographer. Now, with the publication of this book, student, scholar, and nature lover alike will have a ready reference to distinguish between a deer mouse and a white-footed mouse, to identify raccoon tracks, and to learn about Pennsylvania's other inhabitants. An attractive backpack-size volume, written in lively prose, the Guide to the Mammals of Pennsylvania opens with a short introduction to Pennsylvania's environment and the characteristics defining a mammal. The bulk of the book consists of species accounts of the mammals grouped into families and orders. Each account includes a short list of data, a Pennsylvania range map, a North American range map, and a narrative of the physical, ecological, and behavioral characteristics of the species. Exciting photographs of each of the species in its natural habitat, 17 in color, and drawings of animal tracks are especially useful for identification, and a glossary and a bibliography provide definitions and references for the serious reader. Naturalists, whether amateur or professional, will find the book useful in the field; it will be an indispensable tool in the classroom.

In Their Definitive Work on eastern mammals, John O. Whitaker, Jr., and William J. Hamilton, Jr., vividly convey their sheer delight at the variety and abundance of mammalian life. They have brought together a wealth of biological information and applied a biological subspecies concept to the mammals of the eastern United States.